Hellcat Squadran: Redemption
Hellcat Squadran: Redemption is written by User:IceBite, and takes place 2 years after the events of Hellcat Squadran: ...Till All are One. It features the rise of Megatron-2, the arrival of Optimus Prime-2, and the defection of Megatron-1. The prologue is narrated by Aria. Prologue It is just another day at the outpost. Ever since my so-called 'master' was killed and I surrendered to the Coalition, things have been looking up. I was given a second chance at life, and now I'm a General in the Guardians of Justice. Yep, things are looking up now... I'm leading troops, fighting for what I believe in, and...I think I like one of the members of Hellcat Squadran that frequents the base... "Aria!" Great, one of the other Commanders on the base, Dante, is calling. I hope he's got a reason. The hulking, lava-bodied oaf knows not to bother her, unless it was absolutely important...wait, I shouldn't think like that. Well, what can I do? I still have trouble keeping my emotions in check at times. "I'm on my way." Ok, I's outside, and I don't see anything. Ok, that's it, Dante, that annoying, Fire-Spewing...wait, an Alien Fighter and a hovering Su-35. The latter is unusual enough: those kinds of fighters, from what I heard, need to move to remain airborne. The Alien fighter, a large, spiky vehicle, seems to be speaking. "Where is Optimus Prime?" Looks like Arielle and 'Strider' have joined us. But, we have no clue where Optimus is, and besides, we only have a vague idea of who he even is. I don't think the fighter likes our ignorance on the topic... "So, not talking, are you? Ok, Decepticons, attack!" Uh oh, Decepticons? I barely know anything about them, but I know they're bad news. Strange, still, this one's transformation isn't nearly as complex as those video logs I've seen of Deceptcion Attacks. Oh no, now it's shooting at us. Ok, looks like Dante's on it, but it's like it's not even phased... Well, now the Decepticon is saying something, and in a red-neck accent, "So, ya like throwin' around lava huh? How's this for FIRE-Power! CYBER KEY POWER!" What's that light in the sky? Whatever it is, it looks like it's plugging into the back of his weapon! "Time to show ya what good ole Thundercracker can do!" He's now shooting at Dante...and he blasted Dante to pieces! I just hope his physical makeup allows him to survive, he IS made of Lava afterall. But, either way, he's out of the fight. Looks like Arielle is trying to prepare some Clerical Spell. I hope she finishes...wait, are those a motorcycle and some kind of wierd racecar? Wait, it's that light again, and it's connecting to the motorcycle. Wait, now it's speaking, it MUST be a Deceptcion. "Nighty night, girly!" Wait, now it's shooting at Arielle! It looks like a horrible shot, but it just blasted the ground close enough to her to knock her to the ground. and it looks like she's out cold! Looks like it's just 'Strider' and me, now...and now there's a feminine robot with a missile launcher coming. If we don't act fast, she'll... "Say, good night, losers!" She's firing! 'Strider' and I were thrown into the air, and now, I can barely concentrate, but I can see the Alien Fighter transforming and standing over me now... It looks like one of those lights is approaching this robot, and now...he has some kind of gun. "All of you, if you ever DO see Optimus Prime, tell him Megatron is looking for him...although, you in particular..." He's now talking to me...oh no, he's pointing the gun at me now! "Won't be alive." Now, the barrel is spinning, I think he's about to... Chapter 1: Doppleganger IceBite analyzed Aria's body. Then, he leaned in closer and felt for a pulse. After a few moments of waiting and feeling nothing, he finally felt a very weak pulse. He was surprised (yet glad) that Aria was still alive, in spite of the 2.5-inch diameter hole in her chest. Also alive were 'Strider', who only had some burns; Arielle, who mostly had just a few broken bones and other impact injuries; and Dante, who, being just a mass of living lava, just needed time to recuperate, and, literally, pull himself together. With that, Aria's injuries were deemed the most serious and urgent. "She's still alive," IceBite said, "But only just." Next to him was Draconus Rex, another member of Hellcat Squadran, but he wasn't here as that: he was here as leader of the Guardians of Justice. Also there was an Elven Cleric, named Penelope. She attempted to use some magic to heal the wounds, but they were too severe for the spells she had access to. IceBite then realized that they would need Medical Science to heal this, specifically, Meditron's brand of it, which meant getting Aria to Kaven Base. He called over to the nearby Med-Evac UH-60, "We need to get Aria onboard. And quickly!" A moment later, Alban came to IceBite's side. "So, is she ok?" "I am not certain. That hole is a serious injury, but the fact that she's still alive speaks volumes of her resiliance. There is a chance, although a small one, that she will survive." "Are you certain that those 4 are the only survivors?" Draconus asked. "Yes, completely, Aria only barely," IceBite answered. Before they could continue any further, one of the medics on the Evac UH-60 Aria was loaded onto shouted, "Commander!" IceBite, Alban, and Draconus came over, to find, to their surprise, Aria had regained consciousness. "So, you're still alive," IceBite said to her. "What happened here?!" Draconus asked urgently. Alban, in a brief spike of anger at the attitude, elbowed Draconus. Draconus shrugged it off, mainly because he understood Alban's reasonings behind it. "The base...attacked...called themselves 'Decepticons'..." "The Decepticons? This weapons damage looks nothing like them, too advanced, even for them," IceBite said. "They looked...different...but bore the Decepticon insignia...but more clearly..." "Do you know who was leading them?" Draconus asked. "Looked nothing like him...but leader...called himself...Megatron..." Then, Aria fell into a coma. "Megatron?" IceBite asked to himself, "It cannot be...he hasn't been detected this close to Earth. Holly put the tracer on him, and it hasn't been set off by Earth's defenses yet. They couldn't have found it already." "You heard her, didn't you?" Alban said, "She said the figure looked nothing like Megatron. Maybe the attacker lied. Maybe he thought the Guardians of Justice didn't know what Megatron looked like." "More likely..." IceBite said, going deep in thought, "We may be looking at the work on an alternate universe's Transformers..." ---- Alban returned to Kaven Base, with the Helicoptor carrying the comatose Aria. When the Helicopter reached the base, he made sure Aria made it to the Med Labs intact. A while later, he left for the mess hall. There, he found his sister, Kristine Pahlke, a member of Hellcat Squadran's Cloak and Dagger Spec Ops Team, talking with fellow Cloak and Dagger member Garrett Hamilton. As of a couple years ago, Garrett was able to make Kristine nicer. Originally, she was distant and cold to anyone, except for Alban himself, but, by getting her to understand that all the betrayals and pain in her past life was not something unique in this world, he got her to reach out to others more. Now, although not technically 'social', she doesn't avoid people, or snap at them for trying to interact with her, anymore. She now seemed to be talking to be just talking to Garrett, and, based on her expression, it wasn't a topic she liked. Probably trying to relieve some of her frustration by telling more stories of what happened during her time in slavery, Alban guessed. Instead of going to bother them, he just walked on. ---- "The damage exceeds what her body should allow by 234.56723%, and the extent of it has damaged several vital organs! It's a miracle she's even still alive!" Meditron reported after analyzing Aria's body. "Yes, but is the damage repairable?" IceBite asked. "The odds of a successful recovery are 243.3421 to 1, and that would be with my nanobots' upgrades entirely finshed...but I will still attempt the repair. However, do not expect a miracle," Meditron replied, before muttering to himself, "Of course, I do hope one of those miracles that happen here so often do occur." IceBite took one last look at the body of Aria, and left. Outside, May was waiting for him. "Hey, May, what're you doing here?" "Optimus Prime says that he and the other Autobots received a distress signal in the Trebulia Cluster, near the ruins of the HMS Defendra." "Did he say who it was from?" "Yes, and this confused him as much as me. He said the individual who sent the distress signal called himself 'Optimus Prime'!" ---- "Optimus, the message got through alright. There's no question about it, the responder indeed called himself by your name." "Ok, Jetfire. Scattershot?" "Yes, Optimus?" "Try and find out where we are!" "Yes, sir, Optimus." "Optimus." "What is it, Vector Prime?" "That anomoly we encountered must have taken us to an Alternate Dimension. Unfortunately, I do not think it is the same one Gigantion is in...at least, I do not think so." "Well, we can only hope that we figure out where we are so we can get back to Primus and stop that Black Hole." "No need for that, Optimus..." "What is it, Scattershot?" "Sensors detect the energies of the Black Hole. It's here too!" "Then we HAVE to find Gigantion, and retrieve the Cyber Planet Key." ---- "So, Holly, reports from that planet that appeared?" "It's huge, I can tell you that much." Holly was in charge of the expedition to an unusually gigantic planet that appeared close to Bara Magna. "So, did you find anything?" "Not much, nothing much of note..." Not entirely true: One thing she found on the world, but didn't tell anyone about, as a round device, that looked like a key, and contained an enormous around of power... Chapter 2: Worlds Collide The Starship HCS Dovahkiin entered the Trebulia Cluster. Vinna, the ship's Commanding Officer, sat in her usual seat, while IceBite sat in the visiting officer's seat, with May at his side. Also onboard, but forced to use a remote-controlled robot with a screen mounted on it to represent him, was Optimus Prime. As they continued through, they soon ran across the wreckage of a starship. "Are we too late?" Optimus asked. "Analyze the ship," Vinna ordered. The science officer reported a minute later, "It's the wreckage of the Defendra. We may still have time." "What is this starship Defendra?" Optimus asked. "HMS Defendra, Dalmascan Oversky-class Battleskiff, scuttled by Dalmascan Military and Hellcat Squadran December 10th, 2017, cause: Demonic Infestation. Crew Casualties: 0%, rescuer casualties: Queen Ashelia B'nargin Dalmasca - Wounded In Action - Broken Leg..." Vinna recited from memory in response. "Vinna, your eidetic memory is incredible, but I don't think Optimus wanted the entire operation report, I think he just wanted to know what the ship was," IceBite said. "...Right, apologies." "Anyway, we need to find the ship this other 'Optimus Prime' is onboard. It'll probably be something we don't recognize..." Optimus responded. "Something like that?" the science officer responded, showing the image of a starship on the main viewscreen. It was massive, and looked like some kind of flying city. The bow of the ship was adorned with an unusual symbol. "Yes, definitely something like that," IceBite answered... Then, the science officer called out, "Unidentified units, approaching!" The science officer put the contacts on the screen, and IceBite recognized them immediately. "Those are the Decepticons from the recording from the destroyed Guardians Base!" ---- "Optimus! We have trouble!" "What is it, Scattershot?!" "It's Megatron, and he and his forces are coming! Looks like they're going after that new ship." "We have to defend them!" "Optimus!" "What is it, Jetfire?" "We have more: Long Range Sensors detect more incoming Decepticons, and...there's some kind of hyper-complex Transformer leaving the ship...by Primus...Optimus...he looks just like YOU!" ---- Optimus exited the Dovahkiin, readying to fight this so-called 'Megatron'. Readying his Flight-Tech, he launched from the vessel and charged the Decepticon forces. He was hoping that this Megatron was no more dangerous than the previous one, but he realized you never know in this universe: this one may be MORE of a threat. Soon, he reached the Decepticons. The Alien Fighter, Megatron Transformed. He huffed. "Well, you look a little like Optimus Prime...but I can definitely tell that you're not the one I know." "I may not be the one you're used to, but I will fight you..." "Very well then, I guess I'll have to destroy you, a nice warm-up for the Optimus I know..." Suddenly, a flash of light appeared, as an object inserted itself into Megatron's shoulder, releasing one of the devices on his back, which then attached to his arm, becoming a spiked weapon. Optimus prepared a pair of Energon Blades. "Nice toys," Megatron said, passingly, "But mine is better!" Megatron charged, and Optimus blocked. As Optimus feared, however, this Megatron was MUCH stronger: he merely powed his defense aside and struck. The spikes tore through his armor. "Hah, I expected more..." Megatron struck, and struck again. Everytime Optimus tries to counterattack, Megatron just brushes him aside and strikes. Soon, Optimus was practically torn to shreads. Then, Megatron summoned another object, which opened up another panel on his back, releasing the weapon he mortally wounded Aria with. He pointed it straight at Optimus. "Good bye..." Megatron said, but, suddenly, a pair of laser blasts caused Megatron to jolt. Suddenly, a large vehicle, which looked like a firetruck with wings, flew in. "Ok, Megatron, if it's a fight you want, it's a fight you'll get!" "Optimus Prime..." ---- The Autobots looked out the window of the Ogygia, Scattershot helping the Human Children Coby and Lori up to view outside. The human companions seemed to gasp. "That torn-up one looks like Optimus Prime!" Coby exclaimed. "That must be the bloke who responded to our distress signal," Jetfire responded. "Looks like it, don't it...wait, we got more Decepticons...not our universe's though, these guys are as complex as the 'other' Optimus Prime," Scattershot exclaimed. "Looks like the Optimuses could use a bit of a hand, don't it?" Jetfire asked. "Well, what are we waiting for?" asked the Autobot Renegade, Wing Saber, "Let's get a move-on!" ---- IceBite watched as the new Optimus took on the new Megatron, while the Optimus he knows drifted, wounded. He then saw what looked like more Transformers approach from the starship, but the sensors onboard the Dovahkiin detected the Decepticons he knew approaching. "I'm heading out there," IceBite said, "They can't take on all those Decepticons alone, even with that ship's backup." "I'm going with you," May said. "But...but, May!" IceBite blabbered, "It's too dangerous! You'll have to stay here." "IceBite, we've been going out for over 134 years...you know better than to assume I'll just say here." IceBite just sighed, before growling, "Very well..." A minute or so later, IceBite transformed into his Crystalline Dragon Form, then fused with May's Aqua Serpant Form, to form the Liquid-Sapphire Dragon. A moment after that, they jettisoned from the starship, and, the central 'membranes' of the Dragon's wings glowing brightly, like thrusters, they rushed in towards the battle. ---- Optimus and Megatron slammed their fists together, and the blast that occurred in response caused the other Optimus present to drift. Optimus was distracted by that...allowing Megatron to slam him. He then looked behind him and saw what looked like the same kind of complex Transformer as this other Optimus Prime was. The lead one, in the form of an Alien Fighter, transformed. The other Optimus grunted, "Mega..tron...!" Optimus realized that this Transformer must the that Optimus's Megatron. This Megatron pulled out what appeared to be some form of shotgun. He prepared to fire...until he was struck by energy blasts. "Don't worry, Optimus!" "They won't get you!" "Let us take them down!" It was Jetfire, Wing Saber, and Vector Prime. The 3 Transformers entered the battle, taking on the Complex-Decepticons. The lead Complex-Decepticon, the other Megatron, then said, "We don't have time for these posers. Take them down. I'll deal with Optimus Prime." "No you won't, Megatron! We'll stop you!" Then, a large, crystaline dragon with liquidic innards that looked like Sapphires appeared. It them fired what looked like a bolt of lightning, but turned to Ice on contact with Megatron. Megatron then said, "Take them down!" Optimus couldn't tell what they meant by 'they': there was only one dragon. However, the other Optimus explained. "It must be IceBite and May: they must have fused together!" That didn't make too much sense to Optimus, but it at east explained how one dragon could make a 'they'. The Dragon rocketed in and clenched its jaws on the complex Megatron. That Megatron tried to strike back, but had to rely on one of his lackeys, a massive Transformer armed with Helicopter Blades, to aid him. With his Autobots, and this dragon, Optimus can fimally return attention to Megatron. ---- The Fusion slammed a fist into Blackout, as its jaws crunched deep into Megatron. Megatron attempted to scquirm out of the beast's grasp, but that just allowed it to tear into him more. Finally, he pointed his Energon Shotgun at it and fired. He succeeded in blasting it away from him...with a fair amount of his head in its mouth. Megatron screamed in pain as energon leaked from the wound. An F-22 flew up and transformed. "We must get you out of here! To repair the wound!" Megatron snarled...before saying, "Very well, Starscream..." Then, Megatron and his forces transformed and flew up to the new, less complex ones. "If you are turly some form of Decepticon," Megatron said to his counterpart, "Come with us, we have allies that would be useful to you." The other Megatron seemed to think for a moment, before finally saying, "Very well, good bye for now, Optimus Prime. You lucked out...for now." Then, all the Decepticons retreated, leaving the Autobots and the fused dragon alone in space. Then, the new Optimus approached the battered one, and said, "We'll get you to safety." That Optimus said, "It appears that our adversary has allied with yours....maybe it is best if we combined forces as well." The new Optimus looked at the Crystalline Dragon that neutralized the complex Megatron, and, thinking that if this is the kind of allies this Optimus had, they would make excellent allies. He then agreed. ---- Both Megatrons entered the Shadow Alliance Council Chambers. The only 2 inside were Kane and Shadow Tartorus, waiting for Megatron's report. "Who is this?" Kane asked. "Hahah, and what happened to your face?!" Tartorus mocked. "This...is an alternate version of myself. As for my face, I can blame you for not defeating that child a long time ago!" Tartorus, knowing he meant IceBite, took offense to the statement: it's not his fault the kid's tougher than a roach to kill. "So, what's so different about him. If you ask me, he looks much more simpler than you do..." That's all Kane got out, before the more-simply-designed Megatron stated, "How is THIS for more simple?!" He then fired off a blast of lighting, Kane barely making it out of the way in time. "I sense a LOT of Shadow Energy from him," Tartorus said, his demeanor turning serious." "I wear the Armor of Unicron, so I have powers that you can only dream of." Kane smiled. "I see..." Chapter 3: Power Optimus and the Autobots looked around the location the other Optimus Prime called 'Kaven Base'. They met with the leader of the organization that owns this base, back onboard the starship HCS Dovahkiin. Optimus listened as IceBite continued to describe Hellcat Squadran. Finally, Optimus had a comment for him, regarding the Decepticons. "Just something that's been bugging me: you seemed to recognize Megatron, as in our Megatron, even though you've never faced him before. Why is that?" IceBite was silent a moment, before saying, "Come with me." He took them to one of the structures, a massive building that looks as though it had recently, as in within the past couple years or so, been enhanced in size. IceBite then turned on a screen...and showed a recording of some sort of attack. The last thing that happened before Crumplezone destroyed the recorder was that Megatron fired at a fallen humanoid female, scoring one direct hit in her lower torso. "By Primus..." Optimus said. After a few minutes, Wing Saber spoke out, "But what about the person Megatron shot? What happened to her?" "From the looks of the wounds," Vector Prime said, "I would theorize she died." "Not so," IceBite responded, "By some miracle, she survived and we're currently trying to repair the damage inflicted on her." "Those wounds look to be irreparable," said Red Alert, "Don't take this wrong, but why are you still trying?" "Because one of my subordinates seems to like her, and, as long as he still feels for her, I'm not going to give up on her?" Scattershot then asked, "And who is the person that likes her?" ---- Alban entered the Med Labs, again to visit Aria. Ever since he met her in 2099, in one of his Ops prior to Hellcat Squadran, he'd developed a crush on the Elf. Since then, every single time they were in the same area, Aria seemed to act wierdly around him. Uncertain of the reasoning, he could only asume she shared his feelings, but, he never worked up the courage to ask. With her likely to die, he'd been hoping that, at some point at least, she'd remain conscious long enough to ask. When he arrived, he found Meditron talking to someone inside. Alban entered and found out it was Holly. Alban was surprised to see her, seeing as she'd been absent from the base for the past 2 years, either serving in scientific expeditions or hunting down the Decepticon Leader Megatron. When she saw him, she seemed to smile a bit. Alban and Holly were good friends, ever since Alban joined the organization. Holly helped him get settled in...and in return, he helped rescue Holly's now-husband, Sen Urec, when the Illithid Visarius kidnapped him. From the looks of her, see seemed a little busy, as she just obtained a container of Meditron's Nanobots and left. When Alban entered, Meditron took notice. "I know, I know, you're here about Aria. She hasn't woken up yet and I see no signs that she will..." then, Aria seemed to stir a bit. "Then again, I have been wrong before. Hmmm...maybe if you can get her to wake up, and stay awake for a small time, that magic she has may stabilize her just enough to imrpove the odds of her survival by aty least 20%...let's see what you can do." With that, Meditron exited; he had other patients to attend to. Alban went over to Aria's bed, and waited for about a minute. Finally, she seemed to regain consciousness, if only barely. She seemed dazed for a moment, before finally turning her head in Alban's direction. Much to Alban's delight, once Aria laid eyes on him, she seemed to (weakly) smile. "Alban...here...I...I have much...I wanted...to say..." "So do I..." Alban responded. "I...I wish I could have...have told you...how I...I felt...about you...before..." "I won't let this be your end, Aria, I...I love you too much to make it..." After saying that, tears of joy streamed down Aria's face, and Alban realized she felt the exact same way about him. They looked at each other endearing for several minutes, before Alban moved in and the 2 hugged for a split second...until the pain from her wound caused Aria to pull back. "It...still...hurts..." she said, and, from the sound of her voice, Alban could tell she was growing faint. "Don't worry. Everyone here is doing everything they can to help you, I'll be damned before I let you die." Aria smiled one last time, mouthing, "Thank you..." before falling unconscious again. Alban stayed next to her for the next half hour, until Meditron returned, checking her pulse every 30 seconds. When Meditron returned, he seemed startled when he found Aria unconscious. "Oh my...how long has she been out? Why haven't you..." "It's ok," Alban interrupted, "I was checking every minute or so since she passed out again." He smiled as he said, "She's still alive...she was up for...around 15-20 minutes, I don't remember..." "Well, that is hopefully enough. I must get back to work." "Alright, I have something I need to do..." and, with that, Alban left. Characters Main Characters Coalition/Autobots *Holly Uricei Lund-Urec *Optimus Prime-1 *Optimus Prime-2 *Aria Shadow Alliance/Decepticons *Megatron-1 (Changes to 'Other' by end of the story) *Megatron-2 Other Characters Coalition/Autobots *Leinad Llehctim *May *Dante *'Strider' *Arielle *Penelope *Vector Prime *Jetfire *Wing Saber *Scattershot *Hotshot *Red Alert *Signal Lancer *Jolt *Reverb *Six-Speed *Lori *Coby Hansen *Bud Hansen *Sideswipe *Ironhide *Sam Witwicky *Carly Brooks-Spencer *Alban Pahlke *Kristine Pahlke *Garrett Hamilton *Meditron *Quel 'Zeelom *Vinna Shadow Alliance/Decepticons *Shadow Tartorus *Kane *Thundercracker *Ransack *Crumplezone *Thunderblast *Scourge (Changes to 'Coalition/Autobots' by end of the story) *Blackout Other *Starscream-2 *Sideswipe Mention Characters *Ashelia B'nargin Dalmasca *Visarius Category:Stories